Jesus came from a tradition which paid great reverence to holy places. The most holy place of all was where God dwelt - the Temple. Today's first reading depicts a beautiful picture of lives teeming in the living water running from the Temple. The Psalmist praises God as a protector, strong like a citadel. This city of God is also depicted as a beautiful place, where there is a river whose streams bring joy and whose water sanctifies God's dwelling place. The tradition saw the magnificence of the Temple as symbolising the holiness of God.

Jesus' radical act of cleansing the Temple signified re-focussing the God's holiness from the outward beauty of the physical temple to relationships, divine and human. God's holiness is now manifested in the loving relationships between the Father and his children, among whom Jesus Christ is the First-born, and the relationships among the children themselves. In these relationships Jesus leaves no room for unfair trading, injustice, disrespect, exploitation, etc. The Spirit breathes life and restores life in this temple which is Jesus' Body - the Church. St. Paul unequivocally instructs us that we are God's temple, whose foundation is Christ and where the Spirit of God lives. We share in God's work as brothers and sisters in Christ.